Impact of the City Environment on Human Health : The Case of Pollen Allergy in Region of Beni Mellal in Morocco

Background: Today, the number of allergy is increasing in industrialized countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies allergic diseases to be the fourth in the world of affections. The frequency of respiratory allergy including asthma and allergic rhinitis due to pollen is increasing in the young and urban dwellers in developed countries. The prevention and management of allergy in universities is an area of active interest because allergies and asthma rates among young people continue to increase. The allergic reactions are less serious whereas they can develop into a serious form of asthma and anaphylaxis that can endanger life and require immediate medical care. A better understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of allergy can help guide to strategy of management against development of allergic rhinitis, asthma and anaphylaxis within and outside academic institutions in order to reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality. Objective: This study was carried out for a characterization of pollen allergy and its relation with the environment in the university establishment in order to propose strategy of management against this disease. Methods: The project was to study pollen allergy in FPBM in an effective sample of 529 randomly chosen within a range of about 7,000 students. A survey was made for a descriptive studies. Results: The percentage of students allergic to pollen surveyed in the FPBM was 39%. This percentage was within the confidence interval of all students in the allergic FPBM [35%; 44%] estimated 5% error risk. This results prove that our sample was representative. We also found that the most common symptoms of pollen allergy among its students are the nasal symptoms (sneezing and nasal itching). These symptoms characterize allergic rhinitis. Our study shows that the olive tree is the main allergen causing pollen allergy in the region. This study shows that most students have allergies in the spring season; this could be explained by the pollinisation of olive tree in this period. Our study shows that the majority of surveyed students are allergic to one or two types of plants and the cross-reactivity between pollen and food was the most dominant. Conclusion: The case reported here is particularly interesting because, to the best of our knowledge, high percentage of allergy to the pollen in the region Beni Mellal-Khenifra has not reported before. Olive tree was the main allergen, this can be explained by the richness of the region of Beni-Mellal-Khénifra with this plant. These results are unexpected; normally these youngsters must present a resistance to the pollen present in the region because they are native and have an adaptation to the environment. But we find an almost quarter of the young people surveyed in the area present the allergy. This allows us to ask several questions about the relationship between environment and the development of allergy. *Corresponding author: Sabour Alaoui Sanaa, Polyvalent Research and Development Laboratory (LPRD), Polydisciplinary faculty of Beni Mellal, University of Sultan Moulay Sliman, Mghila B.P. 592, Beni Mellal, Tel: +212 5 23 42 46 85/ Fax: +212 5 23 42 45 97, GSM: + 212 (0) 6 18 12 70 40, E-mail: [email protected] Citation: Sabour Alaoui, S., et al. Impact of the City Environment on Human Health: The Case of Pollen Allergy in Region of Beni Mellal in Morocco. (2017) J Environ Health Sci 3(2): 6368. Impact of the City Environment on Human Health: The Case of Pollen Allergy in Region of Beni Mellal in Morocco Sanaa Sabour Alaoui1,2*, Nadia Barje2 Received date: June 02, 2017 Accepted date: September 06, 2017 Published date: September 08, 2017 DOI: 10.15436/2378-6841.17.1567